The Latest: Jury pool dismissed, selections pending

Updated
10:26 pm EDT, Friday, September 13, 2019

FILE - In this Monday, March 18, 2019 file photo, former Dallas Police officer Amber Guyger walks the hallway on her third court appearance at the Frank Crowley Courts Building in Dallas. The jury selection process is beginning Friday, Sept. 13, in the trial of Guyger, a white former Dallas police officer charged with killing an unarmed black man in his own apartment. (Vernon Bryant/The Dallas Morning News via AP, File) less

FILE - In this Monday, March 18, 2019 file photo, former Dallas Police officer Amber Guyger walks the hallway on her third court appearance at the Frank Crowley Courts Building in Dallas. The jury selection ... more

Photo: Vernon Bryant, AP

Photo: Vernon Bryant, AP

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FILE - In this Monday, March 18, 2019 file photo, former Dallas Police officer Amber Guyger walks the hallway on her third court appearance at the Frank Crowley Courts Building in Dallas. The jury selection process is beginning Friday, Sept. 13, in the trial of Guyger, a white former Dallas police officer charged with killing an unarmed black man in his own apartment. (Vernon Bryant/The Dallas Morning News via AP, File) less

FILE - In this Monday, March 18, 2019 file photo, former Dallas Police officer Amber Guyger walks the hallway on her third court appearance at the Frank Crowley Courts Building in Dallas. The jury selection ... more

Photo: Vernon Bryant, AP

The Latest: Jury pool dismissed, selections pending

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DALLAS (AP) — The Latest on jury selection in the murder trial of Amber Guyger, a white former Texas police officer who fatally shot an unarmed black man in his own home (all times local):

9:20 p.m.

A judge has dismissed for the night 220 potential jurors for the murder trial of a white Dallas police officer who killed her unarmed black neighbor inside his apartment.

State District Judge Tammy Kemp told the panel members that 16 of them will be reached by phone by Saturday morning to serve in Amber Guyger's trial, which is scheduled to begin Sept. 23. Twelve will serve as jurors and four as alternates.

Guyger is charged with murder in the fatal shooting last year of Botham Jean. Guyger has said she mistook Jean's apartment for her own and thought he was an intruder.

A ruling on a defense motion to move the trial from Dallas County to another county is still pending.

The case has sparked fierce debate over race, politics and policing.

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7 p.m.

Prosecutors and defense attorneys in the murder trial of a white Dallas police officer who killed her unarmed black neighbor inside his apartment are working to sort out potential biases among would-be jurors.

The 220 potential jurors were being asked Friday whether they would look at the case differently because Amber Guyger was a police officer when she fatally shot Botham Jean last year. She was later fired from the Dallas force.

Some would-be jurors said she should be held to a higher standard. Others said they couldn't convict her because she was a police officer.

Guyger told investigators that she confused Jean's apartment with her own.

State District Judge Tammy Kemp said she wanted 12 jurors and four alternates to be selected by Friday. The trial is set to begin Sept. 23.

The case has sparked fierce debate over race, politics and policing.

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1:45 p.m.

Prosecutors have begun questioning potential jurors in the murder trial of a white former police officer who fatally shot an unarmed black neighbor in his own home.

The 220 potential jurors were being asked Friday whether they would look at the case differently because Amber Guyger was a police officer when she fatally shot Botham Jean last year.

Some would-be jurors said she should be held to a higher standard. Others said they couldn't convict her because she was a Dallas police officer.

The demographic of the jury will be closely watched. Assistant District Attorney Jason Fine asked how many people knew "nothing" about Guyger's case, and only about a dozen raised their hands.

Attorneys for the former Dallas police officer requested in July that her trial be moved to another county.

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6:20 a.m.

Jury selection is set to resume in the murder trial of a white former Texas police officer who fatally shot an unarmed black man inside his own apartment last year.

Potential jurors in Amber Guyger's trial for the killing of Botham Jean are expected to return to a Dallas courthouse Friday morning. They will be questioned by prosecutors, defense attorneys and the judge about their ability to serve. The demographics of the jury will be closely watched in the high-profile case that has ignited fierce debate over race, politics and policing.

Guyger shot and killed Jean in the apartment building where they both lived last September. She told investigators that she confused Jean's apartment with her own.

Attorneys for the former Dallas police officer requested in July that her trial be moved to another county.